Forget bundling up and trekking out in the cold this winter. Instead, give in to your instincts to hibernate and take the opportunity to try out a few new crafts. And the most efficient way to learn a new craft is to start with craft kits. No trip to the craft store required. Everything you need to learn a new crafty technique can be delivered right to your door!

9 Crafts Kits for Getting Your Craft On!

1. Crochet

If you don’t yet know how to crochet, this Granny Square Blanket craft kit is a great place to start. Each kit includes absolutely everything you’ll need to make a 25 x 31-inch classic granny square blanket, including a full-color instructional booklet that explains it all.

2. Felt Craft

What better way to deal with the winter cold than to make your own felt garden with this pretty Felt Succulents kit. The kit includes enough materials to make 18 beautiful succulent plants for a faux garden.

3. Macrame

We are on a theme here with another plant-themed craft. Learn to macrame with this Macrame Plant Hanger Kit that comes complete with everything you will need to discover the lovely craft of macrame.

4. Crewel Embroidery

Crewel is a type of embroidery that traditionally features wool thread and freestyle stitching. It’s a very pretty form of needlework and lends itself nicely to being learned via a craft kit like this Paisley Blue Whale kit.

5. Polymer Clay

Learn the craft of polymer clay sculpting with this Polymer Clay Pocket Kitchen kit that includes everything you could possibly need for sculpting tiny, adorable, and fake food items.

6. Paint By Number

Do you desire to paint pop culture icons, but don’t really have any painting skills? Never fear. All you need is a kit like this Prince Paint by Number kit.

7. Resist Indigo Dye

This Easy Indigo kit is just what you need to discover the art of tie-dye, shibori dye, vat dye, and resist dye techniques.

8. Rug Hooking

You might have done hook rug crafts as a kid and want to pick it back up. Get reacquainted with this small Rug Hooking kit that comes with all the supplies you could need, including hand-dyed wool pre-cut strips.

9. Loom Weaving

Weaving was another perennial childhood craft, particularly for those who went to summer camp or after-school programs. Whether new to you or not, weave your own tapestry with this Weaving kit that even includes a small loom.

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As a long time maker and lover of nature, I often find myself making art and nature crafts from treasures I find in the wild. The flotsam and jetsam of my backyard are some of most inspiring mediums to me. Pieces of bark, dried leaves, fresh mosh, stones, acorns, dried herbs, and more all call out to incorporate them into DIY and arts and crafts ideas.

Inspired by my own desire to create and companies, sites and individuals like Spiritual Kindling, Juniper Ridge, Margaret of Resurrection Fern, John Muir and so many others, I put together a list of nature-inspired DIY arts and crafts ideas that you can create to add your own brand of nature, design and spirituality to your space.

15 Ideas for Nature Crafts 

1. Painted Pebbles – Decorate your stone collection with a paint or a sharpie.
2. Kindling Wall Hanging – Turn kindling into a spiritual and decorative wall hanging.
3. Tabletop Biosphere – Make and tame your own mini biosphere for a taste of nature indoors.
4. Branch Candelabra – Decorate your next dinner party with some wild abandon.
5. Rainbow Painted Stick Wind Chimes – Create a visual and auditory homage to nature.
6. Painted Stick Love – Turn sticks into a lovely work of art to show that love is all that matters.
7. Painted Stick Mobile – Let your creativity drive you to create a painted stick mobile.
8. Stick Stars – Turn brush into celestial art to decorate your own starry night.
9. Branch and Textile Mobile – Use a branch, yarn and other textiles that speak to you into a hanging mobile.
10. Evergreen Paintbrushes – What a clever idea–use evergreen cuttings as paintbrushes for your next painting project.
11. Branch Weaving – Branches can be used as a loom to create colorful textiles.
12. Branch Wall Art/Room Divider – A practical and decorative natural touch.
13. Flower Petal Sketches – Use flower petals in your next sketches for the ultimate in creativity.
14. Hanging Dried Flower Art – Create a hanging “garden” with dried flowers.
15. Garden Mandalas – Turn leaves, flowers and other natural bits into decorative mandalas.

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Dried flowers image via Shutterstock

The post 15 Ideas for Spiritual Kindling and Other Nature Crafts appeared first on EcoSalon.

Use nature to decorate your space with these gorgeous DIY projects.

Spring is an amazing time of year to combine two of my favorite things–nature and DIY.  My husband and I like to take walks at the local nature reserve near our home. We also like to garden and spend time out in our yard. I always pick up little items from my time in the yard and at the park–it’s a habit from childhood. I do it almost absentmindedly. When I come inside from being out in nature, I discover I’ve got quite a collection of natural souvenirs. These souvenirs might include a mini-pinecone, a gingko leaf and a bit of fern leaf in my pockets. Since I’m also a pretty crafty person, I often try to come up with clever DIY projects for which I can use these natural treasures to decorate my home.

There is something about nature that inspires my creative side and using natural objects as a medium in my DIY projects seems like a no-brainer for me. From the simple to the more complex, using some of my natural discoveries in DIY projects to decorate my home is a way to create a warm and inviting space and document some of my favorite outdoor adventures. You can get in on the fun too with these DIY projects. Use them as inspiration or follow the tutorials instruction by instruction to bring nature into your home.

From the backyard to your more far flung nature adventures, collect, preserve and incorporate nature into your home decor.

25 Made-from-Nature DIY Projects for Your Home

1. Indoor Succulent Gardens
2. Branch Candle Holders
3. Crochet Covered Stones
4. Painted Stick Wall Art
5. Dried Flower Garland
6. Tabletop Biosphere
7. DIY Log Slice with Vase
8. Tree Stump End Table
9. Leaf Painted Wall Art
10. 6 Ways to Decorate with Rocks
11. Lighted Branches Wall Art
12. Painted Fall Leaves
13. Tree Branch Curtain Rod
14. Pinecone Flowers
15. Branch Weaving
16. Moss Terrarium
17. Bark Owls
18. Natural Branch Coasters
19. DIY Wood Texture Stamps
20. Seashell Beeswax Candles
21. DIY Veggie Stamps
22. DIY Dreamcatcher
23. Twig Coat Rack
24. Living Moss Coffee Table Idea
25. Spring Nature Frame

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Image: CountryChapel

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